Pieces Fall into Place
by crimsonviolet94
Summary: The story revolves around a girl named Kiko and Uchiha Sasuke. A strong fighter, Kiko lives alone in her parents house, which is right next to the Uchiha mansion, and that's how it all begins. Unaware of each other's existence, will Sasuke and Kiko acknowledge each other? fall in love? or grow further apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Author notes: i don't own Naruto.**

**This is my very first story and you might find alot of grammar errors as well technical errors, I mean, I may not be accurate while using the specific terms used in Naruto but I would love productive criticism and I'm willing to learn. I hope this story goes well and i hope you guys enjoy it :)**

**CHAPTER** 1

Kiko stared at the photograph for some time, tracing her fingers on the frame as if to touch the two people smiling back at her. Sighing she placed the photo frame on her side table and slipped out of bed.

It was Sunday, a day off, usually Kiko would sit at home all day and not go out and other times she'd train. She was all alone after all and she wanted to keep her mind busy at all times, never wanting it to drift away to thoughts and memories she did not wish to recall.

"oh darn.." she murmured as she looked in dismay at the empty jar of coffee. Her second most favorite drink for Sunday morning was finished. Her most favorite was tea, but she wasn't in the mood to drink tea today. Now she'd have to go to the market to get her coffee. Sighing at the thought, Kiko lazily headed out the huge mansion in the hopes of quickly getting her coffee without being spotted by someone she knew.

Her house was huge, too big for her in fact. She didn't need all that space, she was just one person and the house had seven rooms and nine bathrooms. The house was styled with expensive wood and shinning marble which gave it its magnificent look. It was her parents' property which was handed down solely to her, since she had no siblings either.

While others often saw the house in awe, Kiko didn't pay a heed to it. According to her, it was a plain house filled with nothing but cold silence, even her presence didn't help much to diminish the silence. She was just one person after all.

Walking peacefully on the street of the market, Kiko noticed a familiar blonde head looking away from her until she was near enough.

"hey! Where are you going? Naruto beamed at her, while rubbing like it had been hit recently.

"I'm going to get some coffee" Kiko's voice sounded tedious than she expected.

"I wanna go for ramen, but Sakura chan won't let me" Naruto pouted. "can you come with me? Pretty please?"

"uh…well, I.." Kiko looked here and there, wanting to escape.

"oh c'mon!" Naruto begged. Kiko sighed in reply.

"Naruto!" the pink headed med nin shrieked before she landed a fist right in Naruto's blonde head.

"OWE! Sakura chan, what the hell!?" Naruto shrieked back. The two were usually screaming at each.

_Why can't they talk in a normal tone?_

"you left me to carry all that grocery on my own!" Sakura complained, still not noticing Kiko standing there "thank god ino was there"

"well, sorry, I was hungry and I wanted ramen but you wouldn't come along" Naruto replied, still rubbing his head.

"Kiko? What're you doing here?" Sakura suddenly asked, ignoring Naruto completely.

"I was going to get coffee-"

"yeah, but now she's coming with me to the ramen shop" Naruto interrupted. "wanna come with?

"fine. Whatever" Sakura replied tiredly. "why do you eat so much?

The ramen shop was fairly empty; it was early in the morning. Normal people didn't wake so early on Sundays and train. While Naruto munched on his ramen, Kiko ordered her coffee and sipped carefully, trying to focus more on the sipping then on Sakura's constant shouting.

"Kiko chan…"Naruto gulped as he gained Kiko's attention. "Tsunade wants to see you. Asked me to let you know"

"what about? Kiko asked in curiosity. Tsunade didn't usually bother her on Sundays, though she was her sensei.

"god knows" Naruto shrugged.

"are you going to come along? Kiko asked.

"yeah. She called the team seven"

"that means Sasuke kun too right" Sakura's voice changed. "did you tell him?"

"yeah I did. Not like he's going to show up"

"well you obviously must have made him angry you baka" Sakura said angrily.

"Na uh. I didn't do anything, he comes out even less than he did before he left the village" Sakura's eyes became sad as if remembering a sad memory. Kiko on the other hand, stayed quiet in the conversation, she'd heard of Uchiha Sasuke, but didn't know him. She hadn't even seen him.

It had been quite some time since she moved to the leaf village, and at the time, the Uchiha was not present. He had moved back to the leaf just recently, and she had seen quite some mood swings surrounding Naruto and Sakura. Kiko didn't know the whole story and she didn't seem interested either.

"Kiko? Naruto called.

"Yeah? Kiko's snapped out of her thoughts.

"How about we go after I'm finished eating" Naruto asked. Kiko glanced over at Sakura's narrowed eyes.

"Sure" she shrugged, sipping the hot liquid.

From the corner of her eyes, Kiko noticed Sakura looking at her questioningly.

_Is it something I did?_

As Kiko cleared her throat, Sakura looked away suddenly. Things with Sakura had always been awkward, they didn't interact much and Sakura wasn't always very jolly around her. But Kiko would mostly dismiss it as nothing more than just lack of interaction.

The threesome entered the hokage's office building, it was a big one but quite rusted, it genuinely needed maintenance. Tsunade was younger than the last hokage, and definitely far less organized. As Naruto banged on the door of her room in order to annoy her, Tsunade barked back to come in.

Successful in annoying her, Naruto giggled and went in followed by Sakura and Kiko.

"What's up?" Naruto chirped.

"You are supposed to knock on the door not break it!" Tsunade barked again. "I've got work for you"

"Yeah sure. What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Where's Uchiha?" the blonde hokage asked, ignoring Sakura's question.

"He probably won't show up" Naruto said exasperated, stating the same thing over and over again.

"Get him. The meeting's important" Tsunade said, lowering her head in the messy documents.

"He won't come" Naruto grumbled.

"Get him. Now" Tsunade said thinly. With that Naruto sprinted away, still grumbling about how everything was bonkers and he was sick of it etc.

"How's training going you two" Tsunade asked the remaining ninjas.

"Good" Kiko replied quickly, not willing to go into details.

"You still have to teach me that new jutsu you were talking about" on the other hand, Sakura complained.

They waited for what seemed like an hour and there was no sign of Naruto nor Sasuke Running out of patience, Kiko stood up to glance out of the window to see if they were in sight.

"what's taking them so long? Kiko grumbled openly. Uchiha Sasuke was not forming a very positive image in her mind. Right then, the door opened and the blonde appeared followed by another dark shadow.

"Uchiha" Tsunade said sharply, gazing at the man standing behind Naruto looking bored as hell. Kiko sighed annoyingly whereas, Sakura's face lit up for some reason.

"hm": the cold avenger responded to the hokage.

"well well. Are we all here now? Tsunade said tiredly. Obviously she was not happy with Sasuke's disobedient behavior but she decided to skip the nasty scolding. Much time had been wasted. Rising from her chair, she lifted a few documents and went through them briefly.

"so. There's been some trouble surrounding the sand village I suspect" Tsunade dropped the papers.

"what's wrong?" Naruto inquired.

"there are suspicions that the village might get attacked"

"by who? And well, Gaara there isn't he?" Sakura stepped forward.

"some suspect that the akatsuki are lurking about. In that case, Gaara is not enough" Tsunade paused to glance over to Sasuke who had been quiet the whole time. He didn't seem bored anymore but his impassive expression was maintained. She also noticed how Kiko stood the furthest away from Sasuke and made no eye contact.

"I want you four to be there fully prepared, and petrol the village and the surrounding area as long as you're there" Tsunade said, brushing her own blonde hair with her fingers. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at the mention of four. That's when he figured what the new girl was doing there. What he didn't understand though was why Tsunade would send her along with him. There had certainly been quite some changes while he was gone.

"how long do we have to stay there? Sakura asked. She looked as though she was trying to gain Sasuke's attention.

"depends. Don't think about that now. I'll keep in touch and let you know of new advancements" Tsunade answered. They all nodded in agreement. Assuming that the meeting was over kiko and the others turned to head out.

"oh and Neji will be going with you. Forgot to mention" Tsunade said in a jaded tone.

"what? Neji? Why him? Naruto frowned

"because I said so dobe" Tsunade said bitterly. Sasuke brows cringed at the name, Neji was not one of the people he liked very much. Not that he liked many other people. But Neji was from a rival clan and almost competition. Almost.

"Anyway, leave tomorrow at dawn. I've let Neji know of the whole thing. Meet up at the training site"

"the hell" Naruto grumbled, opening his mouth to argue with Tsunade but she held her hand up and muttered "dismissed"

Kiko stared at her food, thinking about the mission she was now a part of. Though starving, kiko didn't feel like eating. She just cooked to distract her mind as it was yet again pressing on to think about how pathetic her life really was. No, she couldn't allow herself to think that. She'd blocked those things out, because she was afraid that if she ever let herself examine her past and her life, she'd be a complete mess. She wouldn't know up from down.

So she simply blocked away those thoughts, closing her eyes to the bitter reality of her life. She was all alone in the world, she knew, but she ignored that…mostly.

"damn it" kiko whispered as she pushed the plate of roasted potatoes lying in front of her.

There were times when those thoughts would bang on the door of her mind but she'd not let them. They'd bang fiercely almost breaking the door but kiko was determined to never let that happen. But all that effort left her exhausted and vulnerable, her heart feeling weak and trembling. She was most vulnerable at those times.

Hot tears began to pool in her eyes, until everything became blur, standing there at the counter waiting for the dreaded breakdown to be over, kiko looked at the clock. Even though she wasn't able to see a thing. She forced her steps to walk out of the house in the cold breeze. The cold air hit her warm face, drying away some of the tears, the rest she wiped away from her hands. Walking with shaking legs, Kiko looked up to find a familiar figure standing before her, a good distance away but still standing there.

Instantly embarrassed by her childish breakdown Kiko suddenly looked down, in an attempt to hide her tear stained face.

_Who is.._

_Oh, it's him. What's his name? oh god, I don't remember his name.._

_Uchiha Sasuke.._

"oh..I.." Kiko began but her voice was too shaky and hoarse.

"hm" Sasuke replied in an odd way.

"..sorry" Kiko muttered before turning back to head to her lonely house waiting for her.

Sasuke just stood there, hands stuffed in his pockets, he was not really sure what to do. A girl standing before him was crying and then apologizing for something he didn't know. He wasn't one of the most talkative people, and so he didn't know what to say or say anything at all. All he knew, though, was that he'd seen her earlier that morning and she was going to accompany him to a mission to sand village. But judging by her condition, going on a mission was not wise.

Sasuke watched as she quickly walked away, never once looking back. He had himself just left his house to head to the ramen shop to catch a cup of sake until he ran into her. He watched the direction she took and apparently, entered the gates of a house right next his own. So now they were neighbors too.

_How come I haven't seen her before? Odd._

Feeling awkward standing there like an idiot, Sasuke shook his head and made his way to the ramen where he was sure he'd find the blonde nuisance gulping in ramen.

"Sasuke teme! You're out of the house. What a miracle" Naruto said as loudly as he could making other people turn their heads and look at him weirdly.

"hm" was Sasuke'e customary reply.

"how come? Naruto smirked as Sasuke asked for a cup of sake. "..oh"

"you shouldn't drink. We have a mission tomorrow"

"I know that dobe" Sasuke said in an impassive voice. He stared at the alcoholic liquid thinking that maybe sake really was not a good idea. He'd have a bad hangover.

Just one glass.. he thought

"say, how do you feel about Neji coming along?" Naruto asked, playing with his food.

"doesn't matter"

"it's so odd that Tsunade is sending him with us you know?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, trying to read his expression.

"then again, the new girl going with us is odd too" Sasuke stated, taking a deep sip of the bitter liquid.

"who? Kiko? Nah! She's accompanied me and Sakura before as well. While you were gone that is"

"hm" Sasuke replied, not a bit flinching at the mention of him being gone.

"yeah, she's a good ninja. Really focused, good speed. Doesn't talk much though" Naruto joked.

Most of the times, it was Naruto who spoke, while Sasuke stayed his quiet self, not passing any opinion. And when naruto acted like his normal nuisance self, Sasuke just walked away, irritated by the loud mouth.

"do you know, she lives right next to you" naruto

"yeah" Sasuke chose to not reply with the usual 'hm', it was becoming weird.

"oh and Sakura's been asking about you. Go and see her" Naruto said irritably. Sasuke did't reply, obviously not planning on taking naruto's advice. "go and see her man. She's been all over me like a bad rash!"Naruto grumbled.

" we have a mission remember? Sasuke replied impassively.

"dattbayo! She's going to drive me crazy. Ever since you got back, you come out even less than before. She hasn't seen you in weeks" naruto thumbed his fist on the table in order to have more impact.

"I'm leaving" Sasuke stated suddenly as he stood up to leave, leaving behind a few coins for the drink.

"whatever. But don't forget to see Sakura" Naruto waved without looking at the avenger.

Neji stood by his window, observing as the night became darker and darker as the hours went by. Tomorrow he'd be leaving for yet another mission to another village, it wasn't a new thing. He, along with some others were skilled enough to actually go on such missions. Though he had responsibilities regarding his clan as well, his uncle, Hiashi Hyuuga the leader of the Hyuuga clan, trusted the young man when it came to handling the family matters. He found his eldest daughter, Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress, incapable of handling these matters.

Tomorrow he'd be busy with a mission on his hands. A very awkward mission indeed. Sasuke Uchiha was his unspoken rival, and nobody knew when the rivalry actually began. It would be the first time that he'd not go with his team consisting of ten ten and lee. He wasn't too happy about but had to obey the orders os the hokage. She had in particular mentioned Kiko and asked him to keep a close eye one her. He had seen her a few times before, she seemed to be a quiet girl, didn't interact much.

"Neji kun? A soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. At the door was standing the little Hanabi.

"yes?

"father wants to see you" she said, rubbing her eyes, they had obviously woke her up. She looked tired.

"okay. You go back to sleep" Neji said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes: I don't own Naruto**

**Here's the next chapter, I suppose the story will take shape slowly and gradually. Read and review. Thank you :)**

**CHAPTER 2**

Sasuke looked out his window, a rare occurrence for the cold avenger. He could see a mansion equally big standing beside his own house. And surprisingly, it was as silent as his own house too. But the aura was still different, it wasn't as cold or lifeless. You could tell there was life in that house, vaguely there but still it was there. It wasn't as dark as well, there wasn't a sense of haunting screams or touch of the dead like the house he lived in represented. Yet he had caught the person living in that house breaking down and running away from that house.

Shuffling his wet hair with the towel, Sasuke walked away from the window, there was no point staring at a house. It was a stupid thing to do anyway. The sun was not up yet, but it was on its way as the blues of the sky began to merge with oranges and reds. He waited a while not wanting to go out in complete darkness. He didn't remember the last time he ever had breakfast, heck he didn't remember the last time he ever cooked. The kitchen was practically brand new and untouched.

Having nothing better to do, he sat by his window with a scroll in his hands, studying it for the fourth time. He had it on his finger tips by now. Unconsciously, the avenger had once again chosen the window to sit beside. Studying the scroll, his ears became alerted on a sound, he wasn't sure but he paid close attention. It could possibly be an enemy, his brows slightly frowned due to concentrating, Sasuke kept his eyes on the scroll, and his mind on the sound. At first it didn't make any sense at all. His house was usually silent as a grave, unless there was an enemy lurking around.

"what in the hell…?" he whispered, recognizing the sound as footsteps. Yes, it could be an enemy.

He drifted his eyes to look out the window but to his surprise it was no enemy but a girl. It was just Kiko sure no big deal in that. No big deal when you're used to living with a bunch of people always surrounding you. But what about Uchiha Sasuke? Who had lived his entire life with no one but his shadow, sometimes even his shadow seemed quite interfering. Great now he'd have to put up with a neighbor too.

He also noticed for the first time that Kiko's house had huge windows, and most of them were open. He could practically see all the rooms inside. But she was in the kitchen, he could see from the window, the kitchen was on the ground floor so she didn't notice him since he himself was in his room on the first floor.

_What's she doing in the kitchen?_

It caught his attention when she took a jar out of a cabinet and started slicing what looked like potatoes. Soon she had something delicious boiling on the stove. Sasuke's stomach began to make strange noises and he was attacked by a pang of hunger.

Feeling utterly embarrassed by the sound of his tummy and for staring, Sasuke snatched his eyes away from the kitchen. Satisfying himself with the thought that he didn't have time or the need for food Sasuke headed out and would be surprising everyone by arriving the first one to the training site.

"Uchiha" the bland eyed Hyuuga came forth, choosing a nearby tree to lean on as he folded his arms.

"Neji" Sasuke said in return, not bothering to look at him. None of the young men was in the mood to bother themselves with cheerful greetings.

Standing there not saying a word made things awkward. Inwardly, Sasuke cursed Naruto for always being late and always annoying him for such and Tsunade too, for having Neji around. Neji's pale eyes glanced at him now and then but he looked away quickly, all the while maintaining his impassive expression.

Both ninjas heard someone approaching the plain grounds of the training. Whoever it was was quiet as a cat, had Sasuke not paying such utter attention he wouldn't have even noticed the footstep and the footsteps were familiar, from earlier that morning.

Kiko calmly walked in, a little wide eyed to find Sasuke and Neji already there. She'd thought she'd be the first one but apparently not.

"hello" she said quietly. Both the guys nodded in reply.

Kiko stood awkwardly on the plain ground. The sun was pretty out and there was no sign of Naruto and Sakura Kiko looked here and there trying to figure out what to do until Naruto and Sakura came along. Sasuke and Neji were silent as graves and looking in opposite directions. They didn't look like very good friends.

"hiyo!" a cheerfully loud voice interrupted the dead silence. Naruto jumped to the ground causing a puff of dirt rise. He was followed by the pink haired sakura, who was staring at Sasuke. She was a pretty girl, Kiko wasn't as pretty she thought.

"Naruto kun" kiko smiled.

"you're late" Sasuke grumbled, folding his arms.

"numph" was Naruto's smart reply.

"shall we proceed?" Neji said impassive but was inwardly impatient and yet again not bothering with friendly greetings.

"yeah. I think we'll be able to reach the sand village by dusk. Tsunade has arranged for our stay there" Naruto said. Kiko noticed how Naruto always wore the color orange. Maybe it was his favorite.

"alright. Let's go then" Sakura said. The group of ninjas planned to sprint their way to the sand village. There an unspoken battle began as Sasuke and Neji tried to be faster than the other. Neji almost forgot he was ordered to keep a close eye on Kiko and interact with her to observe her abilities more closely.

That was abit of a struggle for Neji, who himself wasn't a very chatterbox himself. Making his first attempt, he leveled himself with her as she sprinted calmly beside Naruto. Sasuke was a little ahead and Sakura seemed to be struggling so Naruto slowed down for her, leaving Neji and Kiko in the center.

"can you run any faster than this? Neji inquire looking ahead.

"yes. Can you?" Kiko said in her usual mild tone deceiving the challenging nature of the reply. Neji looked at her, a little wide eyed,

The sand village, a mysterious place indeed, and not very welcoming either. The people were far more reserved towards strangers than the people of Konoha, maybe because, the sand village didn't have many visitors or maybe because Konoha had too many visitors, some were friendly others not so much.

Apart from knowing the officials that controlled the village, Naruto and the team were quite familiar of the red headed Gaara too, who had taken his chunnin exams along with them and who, now sat at the table among the leaders understanding and learning how to run a village, as he too would be the leader one day.

It was not heredity that would make Gaara the leader but his power and strength, which was, according to many, commendable but there was no doubt it was strangely bizarre. The boy was strange as well his techniques, nobody really knew what he was thinking or what he would do next. Maybe that's why his own siblings feared him.

"now where's that big old building they were talking about? Naruto pouted, looking ahead.

"I know where it is. I've been there before, follow me" Neji ordered taking the lead and ignoring the shot of glare Sasuke sent in his direction.

"the people here are so weird" Naruto stated as they walked through the streets receiving some unfriendly glances from the people of the sand village.

Though they had been in the chunnin exams together with Gaara it was not like they were all best friends. In fact, Gaara interacted with no one but his brother and sister. The guy was downright dangerous to mess with.

"there, you see" Neji pointed at a tall building, which was ,made of brick but had the texture of sand. It stood tall amongst several other buildings around it. Two guards covered in white robe stood in front of the building, they easily let the group of ninjas from the leaf village enter the building. They were obviously expecting them.

Heading upstairs where the main office was, Kiko observed each and everything thoroughly. She hadn't told the group that she was coming to the sand village for the first time.

"I wonder if Gaara's here" Sakura suddenly said. She walked closely behind Sasuke waving her beautiful pink hair in a wave like motion whereas kiko had tied her hair up, not wanting to be disturbed by it. Her hair had grown long without her realizing it, yes, she hadn't realized her hair had grown so long. Now she was beginning to feel irritated by it, she usually didn't allow it to grow that long. Though she was not a tomboy but she just didn't think she was attractive enough to care for herself like Sakura who regularly manicured her nail and went through several other treatments kiko was not aware of.

"of course he'll be here" Neji stated, rolling his eyes. Sakura shot him a glare. Gaara was the unspoken head the village. It was just a matter of time when he'd officially take over.

"speak of the devil.." Naruto pointed towards the corridor. There were three men walking towards them. Two of them were in identical uniforms, the same as the ones Kiko had seen the guards outside wearing. The third one could easily catch anyone's eyes, he had bright red hair, and scorching green eyes. You couldn't even look at his directly without twitching, but there was more, his eyes indicated danger.

The three came and halted in front of the group of ninja from leaf village. It wasn't exactly a warm lovey dovey welcome as Gaara stood there quietly folding his arms. If they were to team up, this kind of attitude is not healthy, Kiko thought.

"you must be from the leaf village. Gaara san was expecting you" one of the guards spoke.

"yeah. We're here to discuss potential attacks and of coarse help you guys" Naruto said cheekily, receiving a death stare from the mysterious Gaara.

_What was that for? Somebody has ego issues._

Kiko rolled her eyes, but caught Sasuke looking at her weirdly. She stopped immediately.

The meeting lasted about an hour or so, the officials of the sand village had gathered and basically spoke about the possible indications of an enemy and the security of the village. It was the first meeting, so there wasn't much to it.

Naruto had grown anxious of sitting for a whole hour…without ramen.

"we'll call it a day, what do you say Gaara san?" one of the representatives looked over to gaara for approval who nodded in return. He had rarely spoken throughout the meeting, but Kiko saw that his sharp eyes trailed the room from one person to another.

"thank god" Naruto whispered as he eagerly got up to leave.

In a minute everyone was out of the room, separating into different directions. It was obvious Gaara wasn't about to join them for a chit chat.

"I'm sooo hungry! I hope they have ramen here" Naruto pouted patting his hungry belly.

"actually they don't" Sasuke stated, obviously meaning to tease him but his voice was dead serious. He was serious even when he was joking.

"whaaaa? That can't beeee!" Naruto whined the whole way as the team walked through the market until they found a place where they sold ramen and several other things.

"oh thank you lord" naruto said desperately as he rushed to get his ramen. The team seated themselves on a table outdoor. Kiko breathed in softly, it was a nice place and she was enjoying the fresh air. She decided this would be her hangout spot for as long as she was here.

"so what now? Sakura asked looking at everybody. They were free for a day, the next meeting was the next day. And things around town didn't look that bad either.

"I'm gonna check out the town. You wanna come along Sakura chan? Naruto said with hopeful eyes.

"no!" Sakura rejected bitterly, she was expecting someone else's company. Sasuke.

Plus the new girl was a threat, she was too pretty to be lurking around Sasuke Sakura couldn't allow that. Sakura cursed herself inwardly, she had gotten over Sasuke, then why was she acting so possessive? She needed to stop.

"aww! Why not Sakura chan? Naruto pouted for once diverting his focus from the ramen.

"fine I'll go if you shut up. Seriously" Sakura rolled her eyes. Right then Kiko's heart sank, she'd be left with two graves beside her? She wanted to hang out with Naruto and Sakura but she didn't want to impose. She waited for either Naruto and Sakura to ask her to come as well but they didn't.

_I guess they want a private date.._

The two went off and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Kiko behind with Sasuke and Neji Before she'd been paying attention to Sakura and Naruto with them gone, she realized Sasuke was sipping his coffee, Neji hadn't ordered any food. He was sitting across her looking in another direction while Sasuke sat one seat away from her. The seat had been occupied by Sakura before.

"how long have you been in konoha kiko? Strangely neji started the conversation, still looking in another direction. His eyes were pale, such a strange yet amusing color, Kiko thought.

"oh. Well a few months really" Kiko said, looking down at her sandwich. She wasn't very comfortable around Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuuga.

"you're reason of coming here? Neji asked again surprisingly, it was more like an inquiry really. Sasuke stayed quiet but listened intently. And Neji completely ignored Sasuke's presence.

"well I move from place to place now and then" Kiko shrugged.

"really?" Neji raised an eyebrow Sasuke felt out of place, the two seem to have hit it off by now and he just sitting there like he wasn't doing anything but eavesdropping.

"my parents died very long ago. They own places so I stay there" she said it easily, it was no longer a shock for her to say her parents were dead.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Neji said awkwardly, biting his inner cheek. Starting the conversation with the girl was a full fledged mission in itself, and now the awkwardness, plus Uchiha. It wasn't the most ideal situation but background information would be helpful in determining her motivation, he thought.

"it's okay, really, it was long time ago" Kiko said. Neji looked in her direction, now a little more interested in the conversation. She was a pretty girl he noted, but then again, he could ignore pretty girls.

She had light brown hair, which were tied in a pony bun but shaped her small face perfectly. Her skin was kind of white but it looked fascinating contrasting with her bright green eyes. She looked delicate girl, her appearance was not at all that of a ninja.

"what about your relatives and such? Neji asked, realizing he was asking questions again and again.

"I didn't have many, but they're dead too" Kiko said quietly. Sasuke twitched in his seat. He felt what it was like to be all alone in the world. But he hadn't for once expected her to be all alone, she didn't look like a mess like him.

"o-oh" Neji muttered, he realized he had just made things awkward. After a while of awkward silence he spoke again, rewinding Tsunade's words in his mind over and over. "do you plan to stay in Konoha or leave again?

"I don't know as of yet. I've got a job and I'm in middle of training so.." Kiko looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling in the sun.

"What are you training? Sasuke asked, speaking for the first time. Neji didn't seem very happy about but Kiko was glad, the silence of Uchiha was becoming awkward.

"oh well basically jutsus and such, like other ninjas" Kiko said casually but Sasuke didn't want to believe that. Tsunade wouldn't send any other ninja on such a major mission."but that isn't my main focus" she said.

"how come? Sasuke asked again, ignoring Neji's dirty looks.

"well, I have some abilities that I need to master. I'm training with Tsunade" she said, not aware of Uchiha family's sharingan.

"why kind of abilities Kiko Neji asked curiously, hoping it would something worth his attention. She blinked at his intent gaze. Him calling her by her name felt kind of awkward, Kiko blushed slightly.

"it's kind of weird, actually.." Kiko said awkwardly, fiddling with her fingers.

"go on" Neji urged her to speak. This was vital information.

"well, I can, kind of levitate objects and such.." Kiko opened up slightly, feeling like a freak in front of the pale eyed Hyuuga How ironic. Though neji took pride in his bayakugan and his pale eyes.

"levitate objects. Hm. And there's more? Sasuke said, folding his arms, by now totally forgetting about Naruto and Sakura Sasuke was surprised how she didn't seem too concerned about letting them know of her secret abilities, yes they were supposed to be TOP SECRET. She needed to stop doing that in front of strangers. But he'd forgotten he was a stranger too.

"you're eyes can see every nerve of the body right? She asked Neji, surprising him with the question. "what do you call it..bayak-"

"bayakugan" Neji stated. So she knew about the bayakugan, he was now she also knew the Hyuuga family.

"I can do something similar to that. Well, it's pretty much the same thing frankly" Kiko smiled, finding it amusing, but Neji didn't look very amused, instead, he looked kind of shocked.

"are you serious?" Neji asked, his brows bending.

"yeah. But I'm not very good at it. These abilities are kind of..locked" kiko said, sinking slightly into her seat and feeling a little embarrassed. She felt like a complete loser.

"I'm sure Tsunade knows? Neji asked rather then state.

"yeah. She's training me…but it's not helping" Kiko said, as disappointment washed her.

"..do you need help from…me? Neji asked, hiding his nervousness behind his impassive look. He really was not sure about training her, with all his duties but he was curious. She was no Hyuuga but she had the bayakugan kind of ability, and her eyes weren't even lavender.

"hm?" Kiko responded, not sure if she heard him correctly. Sasuke shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with where this conversation was heading. Not that he cared, Neji could train her or go to hell, he couldn't care less. But he was kind of curious too.

"the hyuuga family has a history of bayakugan. I can help you" Neji said, choosing his words carefully, not revealing too much in front uchiha sasuke, he was his rival after all and his sharingan wasn't good news.

"o-okay. That..thank you Hyuuga san, I really appreciate it" neji twitched at the 'Hyuuga san'. He saw Sasuke smirking slightly from the corner of his eyes. The bastard thought it was funny. Neji shot him a death glare before looking at Kiko, who just blinked at his change of behavior.

"Neji will do" he simply stated, maintaining his impassive expression.

"oh. Okay" Kiko replied, blushing visibly.

Well that was a pain, Neji thought, but he was able to take a jump from knowing nothing about the girl to actually offering to train her. Now he had to figure out how he'd give her time from his busy schedule.

_Crap._

Sasuke lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, rewinding the day's events in his head. Not much had happened in the meeting, he was beginning to doubt of there was that much threat. It'd be really annoying if it turned a small group of thieves talking big about attacking the city. The group stayed in the same hotel, and everyone was given a separate room much to Sasuke's comfort.

Sasuke wasn't sleepy, he hadn't trained today, hadn't injured himself and hadn't thought of his brother. It was surprising, not a day went by without Sasuke despising his brother. Not a single day went by without Sasuke thinking about revenge.

He sat up, pushing the blankets aside and stroked his forehead lightly. His mind had been occupied by the new girl. He was planning to go out and get drunk, it was one of those nights when he didn't know what was bothering him yet everything around him bothered him. But he soon realized he couldn't do that on a mission.

"damn.."he whispered before laying in his bed again. He couldn't understand why he was so frustrated. He knew ever since he came back, nobody trusted him, especially Tsunade and frankly he didn't care. Sometimes she sent secret anbu squad to keep an eye on him.

He had after all betrayed his team, and his village by running to Orichimaru just for the sake of becoming powerful not caring what a devil he'd become.

The next day went by without anything suspicious happening in or around the village, Gaara hadn't shown his face the entire day but something told Kiko that he was well informed of the entire situation.

To patrol the entire area around the village, the group of ninja had divided themselves into teams. Like old teammates, Naruto Sakura and Sasuke were together whereas Kiko was left with Neji, she felt left out.


End file.
